A Sisterly Road - One Shot
by Nath8
Summary: Zelena was a poor and lonely girl whom had an alcoholic and abusive father. One day, after he told her to take water at the north land of Oz, she ended up bumping in a strange little girl whom was running from her "evil" mother. The girls became friends almost instantly, but sadly, not everything is rainbow and caramel apple.


_**Hey guys!**_

 _ **I've been dying to write a oneshot about Zelena and Regina childhood since it was told we're going to see it in the second half of season 5.**_

 _ **They're definitely one of my favorite BROtps on the show, and it breaks my heart how their relationship turned out after so many years searching for a family. I know Regina has it now, but Zelena is too "out of mind" and "envy" to notice it is right in front of her.**_

 _ **Anyways, I'm glad I found inspiration enough to write all of it, and I hope the characters are at least slightly believable.**_

* * *

 _ **English is not my native language, so I'm so sorry for any mistake I probably had committed.**_

 _ **I hope you like it, and if you do, please let me know :)**_

* * *

 _ **A Sisterly Road - One Shot**_

Zelena was a poor and lonely girl full of hopes of a better life. She had always had a humble life, but it didn't avoid her to do everything she could to make her father to feel comfortable after a hard day of work. It was true his drinking manners were getting worst, but he still needed food and cleaned clothes to keep his job. And even though he wasn't perfect, he was the only family she had.

"Child, go take some water at the well near the river of the north. People have being saying that the one we used to use had been poised by the Witch of the East again." said her father grumpily, while cheering his piece of bread.

"Yes, father, I will then." Zelena answered not helping but smile.

She always loved to take water from the well near the river. The path was so soothing with its vivid green grass and excited butterflies and birds. Nothing like the neighborhood where she lived.

"Don't get too happy. I don't want you distracting yourself and delaying the dinner like the last time." he said, probably noticing her exciting smile, "Take the water and come back home, no talk and distractions in the way, otherwise no dinner for you for two days."

"Yes, father." she nodded, quitting the smile of her lips and leading to start cleaning the dishes.

"Nah, Nah." he said, "No "boo hoo" faces, my pretty. Don't forget the smile on your face no matter what. The last thing I want is a whining child whimpering in my house."

And saying that, her father took his coat and walked away to his job leaving her alone with the dishes.

* * *

After cleaning the house properly, she took her only cloak, already ripped and rusty from the time (it used to be from her mother), and took two jars of water ready to lead to the well of the north.

The path was just like it has always been; so green and vivid, the air so refreshing that her lungs felt like brand new, while the birds singed happily and the butterflies flow with the wind.

Suddenly, something bumped her on her way, making she and her jars fall on the ground.

"Oh no, my jars, they're broken!" Zelena whined noticing the pieces of the objects all over the place.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to - I'm sorry, I-I have to go, please don't tell them you saw me." said the little girl who had bumped her.

She was probably only a couple of years younger than Zelena, and her beautiful and impeccable dressmaking made it clear she wasn't from any neighbor close. That girl was dressed like a princess.

"Child!" she heard a voice over her shoulder after seeing the little one hiding herself behind the bushes.

"Yes?" she answered the man wearing a red armor.

Weird. Red wasn't actually a common color in Oz, mostly to its soldiers.

"Did you see a little girl walking around the surrounded?" he asked.

Zelena couldn't help but notice the young and expecting brown eyes girl all collected behind the bushes. That girl didn't wish to be found, and now Zelena was aware by who.

"No, sir, I didn't see anyone. I've been walking this way for an hour now, and I've only seen a few merchants. But I'd advise you to search at the path of south of the yellow bricks road. If you need to reach something in Oz, you must find your path there. And you're lucky, it is only some trees from here." she lied, certain that the little girl had its reasons to be running from those guards.

"Okay, then. Thank you for the information." the man nodded as acknowledgment before keeping his walk, "Come on, men. Let's go that way."

The guards followed its leader to the south of the yellow brick road, just like she told them to, and after a few seconds making sure they were indeed gone, the young girl walked away from her hiding place.

"Thank you for have my back." she said, a bit shyly.

"Don't worry. I believe you have a good reason to be running from those grown men."

The girl nodded, and Zelena kneeled on the ground to take the pieces of the jars.

"I'm sorry for breaking them." the girl said apologetic.

"This? It's okay, I think I can fix it anyway." Zelena smiled.

"Are you sure? It seems really bad." the girl said looking at the pieces all over the ground.

Zelena looked at all the pieces again. She almost forgot it was too dangerous to use magic outside her house, even inside it could be risky, with neighbors seeing her accidentally. Not to mention it wasn't like her father enjoyed to see her "wickedness".

"Yeah, perhaps you're right." Zelena shrugged, standing on her feet again, "Well, if I were you I'd go to the north, it's the opposite from where I said the guards go, so..."

The little girl smiled, and started her walk after a bowed "Thank you".

Zelena waited a few seconds to make sure the girl was indeed gone, and after looking if there was anyone else around, she kneeled at the ground again, waving her hand in the air while the broken pieces united themselves. The jars were now like new, and Zelena couldn't help but smile at the wonderful sensation she felt when she just allowed her powers to be free.

"You have magic." she heard a young voice, some horror and disapproval in its tone.

Zelena stood up quickly. Wasn't the girl gone? What was she doing there?

"It's not like that, I was born with it. Please, I won't hurt you." she said after noticing the little girl stepping back.

There was so much horror in that little girl's eyes that made Zelena wonder if she was some sort of monster indeed.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." she said again, her eyes tearful at the thought that something she had been born with could scare so much a little child.

After some moments of anxious silence, she saw the girl eyes travel from her to the jars. Her slight frown showing she was thinking deeper about something.

"You fixed the jars." she pointed out, even though Zelena could feel some sort of wonder in her voice, "You used magic for good."

Zelena frowned. Was that girl saying she had done something right? That her abilities had brought something not unpleasant to the world?

"My mother has magic, you know?" the little girl said.

Zelena eyes wined at the thought that there was someone like her somewhere, not that she didn't hear of some, it was just that she never met someone related to one.

"But she only uses it to force me to do things I don't want, or to force others to do things they don't want to."

The glimpse of hope inside Zelena's heart ceased as fast as it always did when it came to her powers. It was wicked, it was wrong. She had heard her father say that all her life, yet some part of her couldn't believe that something she was born with could be so horrible. She could do so many things with it, why "good" couldn't be one of them?

"I see." that was all she managed to say after a little silence.

"Are you okay?" asked the younger girl with some concern on her eyes.

"Yeah." Zelena lied, "It's just… I was born with it. Magic."

The little girl looked at her for a few seconds before changing her gaze to the now fixed jars.

"Well, I don't know how my mother has that, but I'm sure you both are quite different" she said, softly, "I never saw her using her magic for anything but selfishness, yours, however, fixed the mess I've made, and you even helped me lying to my mother's guards. You're good, and if that's the case, so is your magic."

Zelena watched the brunette girl for a moment. Was she saying that her powers could be a good thing? That it wasn't a burden? That _she_ wasn't a burden?

"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm Regina." the little girl made a graceful bow.

"Zelena." she decided to mirror the little girl gesture.

There was no doubt that girl wasn't a peasant.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your walk, it's just I wasn't paying much attention to the road. I couldn't let my mother's guards catch me."

"It's okay. Hey, if you don't have anything better to do, would you like to enjoy me in my journey? I'm going to take some clean water from the north land." Zelena decided to ask, it'd be good to have some company in the road.

"I'd love to!."

"Perfect. So, let's go."

* * *

"What a _different_ land." Regina commented after they finally reached the yellow brick road.

"I see you're not from the north." Zelena smiled.

"I'd say I'm not from anywhere over the rainbow." the little girl said taking a dropped stick on the road.

"Wait, you're not from Oz?" asked Zelena a little surprised about her company statement.

"Huh, I…" Regina was definitely hiding something, and her lack of answer was a clear sign she was a foreign.

"Can't say your clothes doesn't hand you over. Even the royalty here rather something a bit more… Green." Zelena decided to say, "Or from the very least, less pink."

Regina glanced at her own dress, rolling her eyes before answering:

"It's my mother. She loves to dress me like some pinky and girly doll, but I honestly rather my riding clothes. Lot more comfortable and easier to run."

"From your mother?" Zelena joked.

"Yeah, mostly from her." Regina chuckled.

They had been walking for a while, but the north land was still far enough for some cheat chat.

Zelena hadn't many friends. Actually, she had no friends. Her father didn't like her chatting with the neighbors, or anyone for the matter. He said it was too risky to them find out about her "abilities" and hand them over to the authorities. Witchcraft had been decreed illegal in Oz by the Queen some years earlier, and expect for the guardians witches, no one else could use it or would have to face the prison, or worse.

However, Regina was aware about her magic, she had seen it and even suffered about it (yet in a different way from Zelena), so she understood her, she accepted her for who she was, and that warmed Zelena's heart deeply.

"So, from what land you came from?" Zelena decided to ask.

"Enchanted Forest." Regina answered, not seeming much excited about remembering her homeland.

"I've never heard of that. Is it a small town from the south?" Zelena asked, trying to remember any known place with that name.

"No, actually, it is truly not from Oz. It's another world, you know?"

"Another world?" Zelena frowned.

"Yeah." Regina answered, dispirited, "I came here from a portal. I've met a friend in the woods that had a father who possessed a magic hat. One that could travel worlds. He knew I wished to run away from my mother, so he took it in secret from his dad and now I'm here."

Zelena listened to the girl's words carefully. She already had heard about some stories that included different lands far from Oz, but she couldn't imagine that it was actually real, and that she'd meet someone from one of those same lands.

"You must really hate your life there if you decided to travel alone to another world." Zelena said, thinking that she'd probably do the same if she had the chance.

Zelena loved her father, even if she wasn't sure if he felt the same towards her. However, grow up locked inside her house, only walking out when it was needed, and cleaning the house all day, was from a pleasing life. She didn't have a choice to change it, but if she did, she'd take it and no second thoughts.

"It is not that bad. Honestly, it was hard for me to make this decision. My mother must be hard and pushy, but she still my mother." the little girl said, while jumping playfully on the bricks of the road.

Zelena wished to play with her of "jumping bricks" (a name that she herself gave to the play after playing it every time she had a chance), but the jars in her hands could break again and she thought it was wiser to not expose her magic again.

"I know how you feel; my father isn't the most affectionate parent as well." Zelena said.

"Yeah, but the problem is not only my mother, you know? There's my father too."

"So he's a control freak too?" Zelena said, regretting her words right after, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I know she's still your mother, after all."

Regina chuckled a bit sadly.

"Don't be, it's okay." she said not quitting her fun with the bricks, "But luckily my father is nothing like mother. He's caring and is always doing his best to be the best father in the world. Unfortunately, my mother also has power over him, and she not necessarily needs magic to do so."

"My father always said that women has some power over man." Zelena commented, "He's always saying how my mother used to convince him to do the most nonsense things, like helping strangers on streets or taking home some hurt animals on the streets." Zelena smiled, remembering the time her mother brought a hurt monkey home and she accidently healed it while her mother taught her to make a curative on the poor creature back.

She was so young, and even though she could not remember much, Zelena could still remember how good it felt to cease the pain of the small creature.

"You mother sound like a lovely person." Regina commented, waking her from her thoughts.

"Yes, she was."

Regina stopped her jumping, and turned at her with brown eyes full of sympathy.

"I'm sorry." she said, gently.

"Thank you." she smiled at her friend with a nod.

Regina slowed down her walking a little, now walking side by side with Zelena.

"I'll miss my father. Perhaps I can come back someday, right? When I get old enough to make my own decisions." the little girl smiled.

"Well, it seems you're already doing it, even with so little age." Zelena remarked with a smile.

"Yeah, but I had no choice. My mother was driving me crazy and I could no longer take it. I couldn't even play like I wished because she wouldn't allow me. It was like I was stuck and lost in my own home, you know?"

"Better than you can imagine." Zelena answered.

Regina eyes wined suddenly, and she practically jumped in front of Zelena, making her stop a little startled. The little girl's eyes full excitement.

"What do you think about running away with me? We can use your magic to get some food and even as protection. And perhaps we can find some shelter into the forest. I'm really good with hidden places."

Zelena smiled at the adorable little girl excitement, but sadly her plan wasn't the best.

"The use of magic is illegal in Oz, not to mention we're only kids. I'm sorry, Regina, but I can't give you hope at something I know that won't work out." Zelena said, returning to walk.

"You're right. I mean, I'm the one who feels unplaced in my own home, not you." Regina sighed following her lead, "It's just… That'd be great to have a company in this sort of life."

"You're really pondering at keeping running away like this?" Zelena raised an eyebrow.

"You really thought I'd give up after everything I did? I gave up a life in a castle and riches or whatever, so I could have something no money can pay: freedom."

"Wait, you lived in castle?" Zelena stopped her walk, instantly.

"Yes, my parents aren't the rulers of our kingdom, but we are members of royalty. Not that I care. My mother's dream is for me to become queen, but that's the least I want to my life."

"Are you out of your mind?" Zelena asked, indignantly, "You have any idea what is to be an ordinary peasant? To be so poor that sometimes you have to delay your lunch so it becomes dinner? To watch a few of your neighbors die because some rich man thought it had looked at them in a _strange way_? To be treated like trash just because your clothes are always ripped and there are nights you can barely feel your feet because it's too cold and you don't have cloths enough to cover yourself, and the last time you left a candle burning to not freeze during night your mother died burned?"

There were tears now rolling down Zelena's face, and she could swear her heart was beating too fast to be normal.

Regina was too perplexed to say anything; all she did was to look at the ginger girl while the same had a breakdown.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" the girl started, but was cut by a snarky Zelena.

"I should have told the guard where you were. It isn't right."

Regina frown deepened at the girl's words.

"You're saying you no longer wish to be my friend because I'm rich?"

Zelena chuckled, bitterly. Such a foolish girl she had met.

"You don't belong this life, Regina. You're a child; you shouldn't be running from your mother like that."

"You didn't seem to care about my age and my escape a few moments ago." Regina retorted.

"That's because I am a child too. I also have parenting problems, and I know that sometimes running away seems like the best option, but that's not right. You needed to be cared, Regina, even if you don't agree with your mother's manners."

Zelena took the jars she had a few moments earlier rested on the ground, and said before keeping her pathway:

"I'd advise you to search for your mother's guards, they probably still searching for you somewhere in Oz."

Saying that, the ginger girl started her path to the north land again, doing her best to not look back.

She had finally found a friend who understood and accepted her magic, but their lives where still too different, and even though a free life sounded tempting, they were kids, and she couldn't keep helping that little's girl ruin her life.

"Zelena!" she could hear Regina screaming over her shoulder.  
 _  
Don't turn back, Zelena. It's for her own sake.  
_  
"ZELENA! HELP!"

That scream wasn't a request for change of mind, it was a request for help.

Zelena turned her back to see huge flying Jackdaw grabbing Regina by her foot.

Zelena had never seen such a huge Jackdaw in her whole life. The few times she saw one of them they had pretty much the size of an ordinary bird. This one though, was enormous and its wings seemed strong enough to beat a grown man away. Plus, what a Jackdaw was doing at a land of north? They were usually seen at the south.

"Let her go!" she screamed to the beast while throwing a jar the most far she could in the bird's direction, which was far from far enough.

The giant black bird laughed at her failed attempt.

"Zelena, watch out!" Regina screamed warning her about what was coming next.

The huge bird waved its wings throwing her feathers (that looked more like sharp black knifes). Luckily, it didn't hit her, but one of them did scratched her arm.

"Zelena, run!" her younger friend screamed probably pondering she had no chance to escape the birds grip anymore.

"No! I won't let this beast take you!" Zelena said, determined.

The scratch was hurting quite a lot now, but no pain or law would stop her from what she'd do next.

The ginger girl upped her good arm into the bird's direction, and with all the strength and concentration she managed to unite, threw out a great amount of green energy from her hand. The unique feeling of freedom and power filling her lungs and body while she did so.

In the moment that the green magic hit the giant Jackdaw, the bird was tossed away with great force.

Regina screamed while the beast lost her foot's grip, but Zelena managed to make her float in the air for enough time so she could reach the ground in safety.

After noticing her friend was safe and sound on the ground, Zelena returned her attention to the bird, whom was now in its normal size and flying away in fear.

"Are you okay?" she asked while approaching the little girl.

"I think so." she answered a bit out of breath, "Your arm."

Zelena glanced to her bleeding injure. It wasn't too bad, but it was ugly enough to dirt the hand she was covering it with blood.

"It's okay, it'll heal in a few days. What about your leg?" she decided to ask.

"It's fine, it's only red by that big bird grip." Regina answered, analyzing her slightly bruised ankle.

"I told you it was dangerous, walking around without an adult."

Regina did a small chuckle.

"Like a common adult would be able to handle a giant creature like that one. My mother's guards would probably run away or die trying." she said, standing up with a bit of trouble, but managing to do so without help.

"I think you're exaggerating." Zelena insisted.

That little girl definitely had some "too old for its actual age" issue.

"I'm not. Last year, when my family was visiting a neighbor kingdom, we were surprised with a huge and salvage enchanted walking tree. If it wasn't for my mother, we all would have died." she said.

"So she had once used her magic for good?" Zelena raised her eyebrows.

"Not exactly. My mom does care about my and hers safety, but it wasn't like she had saved the day. She still allowed some guards to die in the process, just to don't have to stop the carriage." the little girl said with some aversion in her voice.

Zelena didn't say a thing. It was hard to answer something like that.

"That's why I can't come back. She wants me to become Queen and be just like her. I'm nothing like her, and that's the last thing I wish to be."

"You don't want to become wicked?" Zelena asked, knowing pretty well how it felt.

"Become evil like my mother is a nightmare I fear it can come true if I keep being raised by her." the brunette girl confessed, "I can't let that happen. I don't want to become Queen, even less an evil one."

Zelena signed. She couldn't help but to feel identified with her friend's situation. They had the same fears and insecurities, and even though her solution seemed so unrealistic and wrong, Zelena feared for how long she'd be able to take the life she was living now; to pretend with a smile on her face (just like her father had taught her) that everything was alright, when deeply, it wasn't even close.

"I think you convinced me."

Regina frowned at her friend's words.

"Better have a hard life of good, than pass a life afraid to lose myself."

Zelena placed herself next to the younger girl.

"Congratulations, Regina from the Enchanted Forest, you got yourself an older sister."

The little girl smiled wildly, and before Zelena could react, the small brunette hugged her warmly.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I fear it won't be possible to you both keep with this plan." said a woman voice some a bit away from them.

The girls broke the embrace, and soon they could see the image of a beautiful, white dressed blonde woman watching them with gentle eyes.

"Who are you?" Zelena asked making sure Regina was right behind her.

"Oh, dear! You're bruised! I thought I had got in time to face the Wicked Witch's beast before it could reach you, but…"

The woman walked towards them, and kneeling before Zelena, she gently rested her hand over the girl's bruise, healing it with a soft lighting blue magic. Zelena's arm was now no longer in pain or bleeding.

 _So that's the so called good magic?_ Zelena thought to herself.

"My name is Locasta, the Good Witch of the North." she softly said with a gentle smile, "I've got a daughter called Glinda, she was the one who sensed the enchanted Jackdaw coming to the north. It seems the Wicked Witch of the East was planning to escape Oz through a portal, and as you come from another land, she probably thought kidnapping you was a good idea."

Locasta gently touched Regina arm, a soft smile on her lips.

"I know a harsh mother can be suffocating, my dear, but you're not safe in Oz."

Regina watched the woman for a moment. The girl face showing a mixture of disappointment and irritation.

"You're going to take me to my mother, right?" she asked in a low yet tough voice.

"Believe me, my dear, it's for the best." the woman said.

"I don't believe that. There's no best with my mother." Regina said with her mind settled.

Locasta sighed. She was now discovering something Zelena was already aware of; Regina was quite a stubborn kid.

Some part of Zelena liked to believe that it was because she was some spoiled royalty girl whom never needed to fight for anything in her life. Yet, she couldn't deny she knew better. Regina did had something to fight for: her own freedom, something herself wished to have more courage to fight.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I can't allow you in this world when there's a Wicked Witch searching for you. I must take you back to your land, to your parents." Locasta said, finally standing.

With a wave of hand of the Good Witch, a pair of slippers appeared in Regina's feet.

"These will take you home by only clicking your heels together three times." the witch warned.

Regina looked at the slippers sadly, yet she didn't conflicted the blonde witch.

"May I at least say goodbye to my friend first?" Regina asked, and a sad expression appeared on the witch's face.

"Of course, but first I must warn you something." the witch started, "After you be gone, the Wicked Witch won't give up on her quest. She'll do anything to get answers about portal traveling, and as the two of you knows quite enough about the subject, she'll definitely try to reach one of you, if not both of you."

The Witch kneeled before them again, eyes full of sympathy.

"For your own sake, I'll have to remove all the memories you have about each other, and about portal traveling."

Zelena couldn't help but feel her heart tight after hearing that.

"But she's my only friend." Regina whispered, tearfully.

Those same words could have slipped from her own throat, yet Zelena knew it was for their own safety. She was the older "sister", and she had to act like one. It was Zelena's turn to knee in front of her younger friend.

"It's okay, Regina." Zelena said touching her friend's shoulder gently, "I bet you'll find another friend, didn't you mention that boy who helped you with the hat?"

"I'll forget about him too, he was the one who told me about the portals." she cried.

Zelena pulled the little girl to a tight embrace.

"It's okay, sis, you're a good girl, you'll find new friends. You're a good girl." she said in a low voice, a gasp slipping from her throat after repeating the last sentence.

"You are too." Regina cried, tithing the hug, "I wished I had a sister like you."

"You have, sis, me. Even not remembering, I'll always be your friend and your older sister."

They broke the embrace, and Zelena held the gaze of the teary little girl while wiping her tears away gently.

"With or without memories, you're my chosen little sis, and nothing will change that, okay?"

The little girl nodded.

With a sigh, Zelena stood up, and held one of Regina's little hands on hers.

"Do what you need to do, miss." Zelena said, while Regina tithed her hand on hers.

Zelena was holding her cry the most that she could, while Regina did the first click with her slippers.

"I'm sorry, my dears."

And after the woman said that, the first click happened, followed by the last one.

Perhaps Zelena would never see her little friend again, and worst, never remember she had met her in first place. Yet, Zelena was sure of one thing: that feeling of having a friend, a little sister to take care of or even argh sometimes, that, she'd never forget, she could not forget, because in that same day, Zelena for the first time – since her mother died – remembered how it felt to have a family.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading it. I hope you have an amazing week!**_


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